seat up or down?

I have a new bike and am experiencing a little knee pain in the front of my knee. I remember that a possible source is seat height. Should I move the seat up or down? Or might it be something else entirely?

When your foot is on the pedal at the bottom (six o'clock position) you should have about a 10 to 30 degree bend in your knee.

You should also check forward/back positioning of your saddle. When your front foot is on the pedal perpendicular to the ground (9 o'clock position) your knee should not be too far forward over your toes. If you were to drop a straight line down from your kneecap to your shoe, it should hit at your instep, where your shoelaces would be tied.

Originally Posted by Xerum 525

Now get on your cheap bike and give me a double century. You walking can of Crisco!!

When your foot is on the pedal at the bottom (six o'clock position) you should have about a 10 to 30 degree bend in your knee.

You should also check forward/back positioning of your saddle. When your front foot is on the pedal perpendicular to the ground (9 o'clock position) your knee should not be too far forward over your toes. If you were to drop a straight line down from your kneecap to your shoe, it should hit at your instep, where your shoelaces would be tied.

Actually I think it should hit a bit more forward than that, more like the ball of your foot, directly over the pedal spindle, but it's just a ballpark anyway and YMMV from the initial position.

Hannah, assuming that you are not using clipless pedals, I'd say that your saddle needs to go a bit higher. Use the good advice cbad gave as a starting point, then, after giving it some miles, make tweaks in lil baby increments (mm, not inches).

"Let us hope our weapons are never needed --but do not forget what the common people knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny. If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government -- and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws" - Edward Abbey

Even with the seat at the correct height, if I ride with my feet pointing straight ahead it can cause a twinge in my knees. I have found that positioning my feet on the pedals at the angle of my natural walking gait prevents this.

Actuallly your foot should be in the middle of the pedal with the widest part of your foot. The ball of your foot. When the pedals are at the 9 O'clock position, if you had a plumb bob dropping from under your knee cap where the little indetion is it should fall to the middle of your pedal (March issue of cycling magazine I think that was the name of it I read it at publics. Don't have the mag, but next time I go I will check again.